The Fallacy that is Duterte: Are we encouraging a Fascist?

Much as I agree with Mayor Duterte with so many issues, I cannot help but put him to task on his plan to literally deny the workers' rights to organize and express themselves if he wins the presidency. As lawyer, he knows very well that such rights are enshrined in our Constitution. Labor organizing is not a privilege, but a right. Is Duterte losing his mind?

Or probably, he is trying very hard to court the support of Big Business that he is ready to abandon the interests of workers, and stand in defense of capitalists who violate the rights of the people every single day.

Instead of targetting labor unions, why not train your gun Mr. Duterte to those big firms and capitalists who violate our laws, and there are many! One---this scourge that is labor only contracting. The biggest firms in the land are recruiting contractuals instead of full time employees. Because of this, millions of families are living below the poverty line.

The fallacy that is Duterte is that we are being made to believe that he is pursuing the people's interests when he is, in fact, pursuing the interests of elite hawks who are planning to put more control over government, and over the lives of the people, for them to rake in more profits and more monies and leave the people holding an empty bag.

We are being made to believe that Duterte knows what he is saying, that he, actually believes in his heart, that change should be effected when he is, in fact, pursuing the Fascist way, instead of earnestly pursuing nationalism.

The problem is, we are being conditioned to accept Fascism slowly by these rhetorics and veiled threats coming from someone who probably does not respect individual rights.

Mr. Duterte claims to adhere to the precepts of Socialism. Really now?

Socialism sprang from the loins of the oppressed masses. Socialism was created by people who love their fellow men. The very reason why Socialism exists still, is the fact that it espouses humanism, instead of hatred which Fascism represents.

I am not at all surprised because Mr. Duterte is a puppet of big Chinese interests. The very reason why he is running is because he wants nothing more than pursue the interests of these Chinese traders who got their wealth manipulating the economic affairs of the people of Davao.

I apologize for this. Like millions of other people who thought that Duterte means well, now, I realize that this is all a facade, and I expected that already when Duterte teamed up with Cayetano.

Since his days as a councilor in UP, Alan Peter has never represented anything except his own personal and political goal which is to become president. When he ran for the UP student council in 1992, he lost and why? Because we UP students are not that easy to fool.

Alan Peter Cayetano is delusional, like Mr. Duterte who thinks that Fascism is the answer, when it is not!

Why Rody Duterte is a game changer

Inspite of his so-called "crudeness" and his "lack of decorum", Rody Duterte continues to create tremendous impact in the minds and consciousness of so many people, including the so-called moralizing elite. Many have commended against him, especially those comments which many people found "offensive" some of them about Pope Francis and extra judicial executions. Publicity operators are hard at work, especially from the camps of competing presidentiables, trying to find even the minutest fault at Duterte.

Duterte's propaganda strategy is as old as Methuselah, but it works, mainly because it strives to be disruptive. Yes, disruptive communication works in eliciting reaction. However, managing such a strategy is like walking on tightrope.

Why is Duterte's message resonading so much with millions of Filipinos? Simple. At the onset, the rules of the game were set---expect him to be "himself" --a straight shooter, a trash talker, a living quotable quote. And the surveys show that people already accepted him like that. Don't be amazed because there were so many people like Duterte who preceeded him, and like him, had been a darling of the crowd inspite of their "crass" behavior.

We had so many people praising and honoring Antonio Luna for his big words. We had Manilenos treating Mayor Arsenio Lacson like god when he was fighting the maton of Manila. We were praising Mayor Alfredo "Dirty Harry" Lim for his liquidation squads and other public personalities

Big words define an individual. And Duterte is no exception.

What Duterte is trying to do is engage the Big Boys. At this early, Duterte wants to see if he can engage them to a fight. The "Big Boys" are the players of this political game, many of whom are self-moralizing shits trying to hide what they really do---rob and steal us blind.

Duterte is here not to do that but to reform. And you cannot reform something if they think of you as small as an ant. You need to be big. And bigness here in this country, in this society, means you have the "balls" to take on the more crass people wearing expensive suits.

Nababastusan ka ke Duterte? Bakit hindi ka nababastusan sa ginagawa sa iyo ng mga may-ari ng malalaking kumpanyang nagnanakaw sa iyo ng bilyon-bilyon?

nahihintakutan ka sa pagpatay? bakit, ilang bata at matatanda ang namamatay sa gutom araw-araw? ilang milyon ang pinapatay ng kahirapan sa araw-araw? at ilang milyong Pilipino din ang namamatay dahil sa kapabayaan ng pamahalaan?

nagagaslawan ka sa pagiging babaero ni Duterte? tell me, how many mistresses exist and living in our midst? how many politicos maintain one or two or more paramours?

babaero? Just look at Joseph Estrada. Don't tell me that San Juan mayor Guia Gomez is not a mistress?

The Re-Emergence of the Concept of a Caudillo (The Man on Horseback)

Nearly thirty years of liberal democracy and most of us are again, yearning for a strong-man rule. Many of the people I have spoken to, told me that it is but useless to register since Rody Duterte is not running anyway. Duterte, for them, represents the solution to problems--he carries with him the strong man label.

Duterte came from humble beginnings and became a national figure when he single-handedly brought back peace and development to Davao. Decades past, Davao was no man's land. Bandits and criminals roam the streets, killing and victimizing people left and right. Many people had no jobs because businessmen were afraid of setting up shop in the country's biggest city because of lawlessness. People were disrespectful of the law, and they do what they want to do.

Enter Duterte. He impressed the people by his strict policy of enforcement. He forbade smoking and set an example. When people got themselves arrested and according to tales, Duterte even arrested and punished his own relatives, people began noticing him.

When Mayor Duterte gave a series of orders against criminals, especially drug lords, and when some of them were seen floating in the rivers or seen dead at one dark alley, people began to see hope. The wild Davao which was formerly the stomping ground of the criminally insane, was now, fighting back against its former demons.

As soon as peace and order came back, businesses also slowly operated and the local economy began to recover. People are now not afraid of going out of their houses. People began transacting with other people and thus, gave rise to a very active consumer market. Consumer confidence rose and this encouraged businesses to further increase their presence in Davao.

Now, Davao City is no more a dead man's land but a vibrant economy, one of the stellar ones down South.

Actually, to be fair, there are also several other Local Government executives with similar Duterte-like qualities and most of the time, these people succeed in implementing the law to the letter and encouraging people to further support the government and maintain peace and order.

Duterte has no secrets to hide. The only thing which he did was actually implement the law. And by doing so, people loved him. What does this tell us?

1. We don't need a dictator. What we need are men and women of principle, those who will not back down from Bullies especially those with sinister and selfish plans to enrich themselves using public funds. Credit that to the very nature of the system which we are now in, a system that allows the wanton plunder by the few of the funds of the many.

We don't need a dictator---we need a strong government peopled by principled men and women who will truly implement the law without regard for anybody. We need people who will neither flinch nor back out when pressured by Big Business especially those with multi-billion peso projects with the government.

2. We don't need people whose families and friends have interests in government projects. We don't need people whose sole motivation for running for office is wealth protection. What we need are men and women whose sole mission is wealth creation for the many.

3. We don't need one person managing our affairs but a Council peopled with similar minded individuals whose task is simple---maintain and protect the interests of the People as expressed in the Constitution and the laws against those who want to exploit the weaknesses of the system for their personal gain.

For us to achieve this, we need the ascendant generation to focus more on building a party whose members are men and women of principle. We need an ideology that would guide the Party and would provide the direction for this country to take for the next thirty years.

Without a party, there can never be a unified movement strong enough to counter the traditional ones which lord it over our affairs.

Why Rody Duterte did not file his COC for the Presidency

BREAKING NEWS! Like what I told you in my earlier posts, Davao City mayor Rody Duterte just filed his COC for the presidency in the nick of time. He flew from Palawan, went straight to Manila Hotel and after a few minutes, rode a car and went straight to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) offices in Manila. 

Nah...that's not what happened. Duterte flew in and went straight to Manila Hotel to grant interviews. He says he is not filing for the presidency, and can you blame him?

We have a mama's boy and a long time dreamer (Mar Roxas), a suspected thief (Binay), a foreigner (Poe), a mental case who will definitely sign a declaration of war against China the minute she gets elected (Santiago), a formerly accused corrupt Congressman (Syjuco), a former Ambassador who nearly went toe-to-toe with a former mayor now aspiring to become Senator (Seneres), a barangay captain (Dino), a man called by aliens, another called by Lucifer/Satan, another one called by god, some by angels, another chief of the intergalactic federation and a Martian--all aspiring for the top post.

You---do you want to see your name included in this list? Now, will you blame Davao mayor Rody Duterte for not filing his Certificate of Candidacy?

Duterte is the man of the Filipino Masses

Rody Duterte should realize that millions of ordinary Filipinos are banking on him to lead the country for the next six years. That this is a desperate call, a yearning if you may, by many for him to do his duty as a Citizen. Yes, Duterte as an officer of the Court, an enforcer of the law, should heed this call. Think of our times as so desperate and so like we are at war, and we are duty bound to protect and safeguard the welfare of the people against those who want nothing more than the pursuit of the economic interests of their financiers. 

Among those who are strong enough to launch a nationwide campaign, only Duterte does not have any oligarch behind him. Let us analyze these candidates one by one.

Mar Roxas is backed by Spanish mestizos, oligarchs of old, whose bloodlines go way back to the 15th century, a time when we were still being enslaved by these Spanish colonials. The fact is, Mar's class roots go way back, to the time of his ancestors who were the wealthiest Spanish families in the land. Wealth protection made his family interconnect with other wealthy families and that explains why Roxas' supporters belong to the top four billionaire families in Asia. The fact is, their wealth is estimated in the billions of DOLLARS, not merely pesos.

The Ayalas who protect and finance the presidential run of their relative, Mar Roxas, is involved in 13 MAJOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS, mostly infrastructure projects which the Aquino administration had allocated budgets close to 1.3 trillion pesos.

Contesting the Ayalas in the PPP game is San Miguel Corporation's Ramon Ang. Ang, together with the Zamora brothers, are behind the run of Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares and Senator Chiz Escudero.

San Miguel's owners are men who believe in destiny---they think that it is their destiny to transform SMC as the biggest conglomerate not just in the Philippines but in Asia. They represent one group of the Oligarchy in the Philippines--the Chinese mestizos. SMC used to be owned by most Spanish mestizos, yet with the entry of Danding Cojuangco, who belonged to a rich Chinese mestizo family in Tarlac, it was transformed as the only company owned by a partnership between the Spanish, American (Zobel's) and Chinese (Cojuangco). I likened SMC as similar to the play and role of the United Fruit Company (UFC) which dominated even the political landscape of several South American countries in the sixties, seventies even in the 21st century.

SMC is not just a beverage company---it has expanded into several other fields, which include infrastructure development, property and real estate, manufacturing, even in telecommunications. Notice that most of their businesses are under regulation, hence, hold in government is crucial to their success in the business field.

Why do they want a Grace Poe to become president, even if they know that Poe is inexperienced, is unprepared and is really blind on the dynamics of Philippine politics? They want an uncontested monopoly of power, that is. Who'll benefit from a Poe run? You guessed right---Escudero, the long-time political stooge of Cojuangco and Ang.

Imagine if they manage to successfully get ALL PPP projects---that is a trillion peso infusion into their corporate coffers. Likewise, SMC will get the most prized possession of all---the rich TAMPAKAN MINES IN COTABATO which SMC has been salivating since it was discovered during the period of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

How about Vice mayor Jejomar Binay? Any Big Business interests backing his campaign? Yes, he has his, yet these people belonged to the nationalist bourgeoisie and we may be safe if Binay wins.

This is similar to Duterte. He does not have any big business interests backing him which is okey, since it is already proven in several elections that underdogs like him stands a chance of winning. Because inspite of the vast economic power being wielded by these oligarchs, in a fair elections, such popular candidates do stand a chance against heavily organized ones.

Look at how Fidel Valdez Ramos was able to snatch the presidency away from a Mitra and a Cojuangco in 1992, or how a Benigno Aquino was able to win inspite of the billions spent by a Villar. This may happen in 2016.